it is planned that banks would reopen on sunday, and i hope we will succeed in preventing any further clashes or friction among demonstrators. i will speak to the responsible party to prevent or avoid any friction. we also call on all demonstrators to appreciate to be assurances -- of the assurances, they should appreciate that egypt is suffering grave damages with every minute passing. . . .

>> what was the role of the personnel of the army and police in the clashes that happened yesterday? >> to begin with, we live in very exceptional circumstances. the catastrophe we face in relation to the arrangement -- security arrangement between the police authorities and the army, and the absence of the police,

resulted in a total or partial absence of the police personnel underground -- on the ground. as to the armed forces, their main duty was to safeguard the area, the property. for fear of any casualties, allow me to say that all of these arrangements are being reexamined. i hope what happened yesterday is not repeated. question? >> will the muslim brotherhood be excluded from the dialogue you're about to engage in? the second part -- who has the final say? we see you are apologizing that you were not aware --

>> no one was. i said -- when i said i was not aware -- no one was aware. these groups -- i was not aware whether these groups gathered individually or in groups. the security mayhem is likely to happen anytime, anyplace. they might have infiltrated other individuals and gathered inside -- let me complete. i do not be offensive in your question in order to receive a sensible answer. sensible answer. i, myself, surprised to see camels and horses. they must have been brought in from the areas surrounding the pyramids. some said that the camel owners are affected by the stoppage of tourism activities, and they came in revenge.

others said they were paid thugs. there were many reports and many rumors. this is what we are investigating now. there is no doubt this was a surprise to one and all. please rephrase your question. i will answer the first part of your question. to my knowledge, as we speak, that no one will be excluded from the dialogue, including the move -- including the muslim brotherhood. >> according to the tv station -- >> this is a portion of the news conference with ahmed shafiq earlier today, covered by the all jazeera network. we will lead you to go to the national press club. the president of the press club, mark hamrick, introduced in bernanke, speaking in the future of the u.s. economy.

live coverage on c-span. [applause] >> thank you. thank you and good afternoon. i am very pleased to have the chance to be here at the national press club. i'm especially glad to have a conversation with journalists, who write about economic policy from our nation's capital. your job isn't easy, but it is essential. virtually every american is affected by developments in the economics and economic policy. contemporary economic issues are highly complex, and few non specialists have the time or background to master these issues on their own. the public has to rely on diligent reporting, clear thinking, and lucid writing. reporters are determined to go beyond bumper stickers and sound bites to help people understand what they need to know, make the decisions in their personal

finances and theirthe polls -- and at the polls. i know that journalists take these responsibilities seriously. thank you for what you do. today, i am going to provide a brief update on the economy and are expected to evolev in the near term. then i will turn to implications for monetary policy. i would like to briefly discuss some of the daunting fiscal challenges that we face as a nation. the economic recovery that began in the middle of 2009 appears to have strengthened in recent months. today, growth has not been fast enough to bring about significant improvement in the labor market. the early phase of the recovery in the second half of 2009 and early 2010 was largely attributable to the stabilization of the financial system, the effects of expansion or monetary and fiscal policies, and a strong boost to production from businesses are rebuilding

their depleted inventories. economic growth slowed significantly last spring as the significant of these events diminished, and as europe's debt problem roiled global financial markets. more recently, however, we have seen increased evidence that a self-sustaining recovery in consumer and business spending may be taking hold. notably, we learned last week that households increased their spending in the fourth quarter in real terms at an annual rate of more than 4%. although a significant portion of this pickup reflected strong sales in motor vehicles, the recent gains in consumer spending look to have been broadbased. business investment and new equipment and software also grew robustly over most of last year, as firms replace aging equipment and as demand for products and services increased. in contrast, in the housing sector, the overhang of bacon and foreclosed homes continues to weigh heavily on -- vacant

and closed homes continues to weigh heavily on a construction and pricing. accommodative monetary policy and more supportive financial conditions, including an apparent increase in the willingness of banks to make loans, seems to lead to a more rapid pace of economic recovery in 2011 than we saw last year. while indicators of spending and production have been encouraging, the job market has improved only slowly. following the loss of about 8.5 million jobs in 2008 and a2009, private-sector employment showed gains in 2010. these gains were barely sufficient to accommodate the inflow of recent graduates and other new entrants to the labor force, and, therefore, not enough to significantly reduce the overall unemployment rate. data provides grounds for optimism on the employment front. initial claims have been

trending down. indicators of job openings at firms hiring -- showed that firms' hiring plans have improved. with reporters -- employers still reluctant to add to payrolls, it will be several years before the current limit rate returns to normal level. until we see a sustained period of stronger job creation, we cannot consider the recovery to be truly establish. on inflation, we have seen significant increases in the highly visible prices, notably gasoline. prices of commodities have risen lately, largely as a result of strong demand from fast-growing, emerging-market economies, coupled, in some cases, with constraints on supply. nevertheless, overall inflation remains quite low. over the 12 months ending in december, prices for all goods and services purchased by households increased by only 1.2%, down from 2.4% over the

prior 12 months. to assess the underlying trends in inflation, economists follow a number of measures, including core inflation, which excludes the more volatile food and energy components, and can be a better predictor of where overall inflation is headed. core inflation was only 0.7% in 2010, compared with a round 2.5% in 2007, the year -- around 2.5% in 2007, the year before the recession began. the downward trends in wage and price inflation are not surprising, given the substantial slack in the economy. in sum, although economic growth will probably increase this year, we expect the current limit rate to remain stubbornly above and inflation to remain persistently below the levels that the federal reserve policymakers have judged to be consistent over the longer term

with their mandate from the congress to foster maximum employment and price stability. under such conditions, the federal reserve would typically ease monetary policy by reducing the target for short-term policy interest rates, the fed funds rate. however, the target range has been near zero since december, 2008, and the federal reserve has indicated that economic conditions are likely to warrant an exceptionally-low target rate for an extended period. as a result, for the past the of years, we have been using alternative tools to provide -- two years, we have been using alternative tools to provide monetary accommodation. we have further ease monetary conditions by purchasing long- term securities on the securities market. we purchased almost $1.70 trillion in -- term treasury and agency -- longer-term treasury and agency-backed mortgages and

securities. we want to keep the size of our security holdings roughly constant. we began to signal to financial markets that we were considering providing additional monetary policy accommodation by considering further asset purchases. in early november, we announced a plan to purchase and and that -- an additional $600 billion in long-term securities this year. the result is that suppository -- depository institutions hold high levels of reserve balances. although large-scale purchases of longer-term securities are more familiar tool than targeting the federal funds rates, the two types of policies affect the economy similarly. conventional monetary policy works by lowering market expectations for the short- term interest rates, which

contributes to an easing in broader financial conditions. these changes, by reducing borrowing costs and recent asset prices, bolster household and business spending, and thus increase economic and activity. by comparison, the federal reserve purchases of longer-term securities have not affected interest rates, which remain close to zero, but instead, put downward pressure directly on -- but, instead, put downward pressure directly on interest rates. these actions increase spending by households and businesses through, essentially, the same channels as conventional monetary policy, thereby strengthening the economic recovery. a wide range of market indicators supports the view that the federal reserve security purchases have been effective at easing financial conditions. for example, since august, when we announce our policy of reinvesting in maturing securities and signaled that we were considering additional purchases, equity prices have

risen significantly. volatility has fallen. corporate bond spreads have narrowed. inflation compensation has risen from low to more normal levels. yields on five-to-10 year securities initially declined as a market price in perspective -- prospective purchases. these rose as investors became more optimistic about growth and traders still back expectations of future securities purchases -- scaled back expectations of future securities purchases. this is what you would expect to see when monetary policy becomes more accommodative. these developments are remarkably similar to those that occurred during the months following our march, 2009, announcement of significant expansion of securities purchases. the fact that financial markets responded in very similar ways to each of these policy actions lends credence to the views that

these had the effect on financial markets and are thereby providing significant support to job creation and the economy. my colleagues and i have said that we will review the asset- purchase program regularly in light of the incoming information and will adjust it as needed in order to promote maximum employment and stable prices. in particular, it bears emphasizing that we have the necessary tools to effectively exit from the asset-purchase program at the appropriate time. in particular, our ability to pay interest on reserve balances has -- held by the federal reserve will allow us to put pressure on short-term market interest rates and tighten monetary policy when required, even of bank reserves remain high. we have developed additional tools that will allow us to drain or below book -- demobilize bank reserves when conditions warrant. if needed, we could tighten

policy by redeeming or selling securities that we hold. let me turn to fiscal policy. fiscal policy makers also face significant challenges. the federal budget deficit has expanded to an average of more than 9% of gross domestic product over the past two years, up from an average of about 2% of gdp. two years prior to the recession. the extraordinarily wide deficit reflects the actions that the administration and congress took to ease the recession and steady financial markets. even after economic and financial conditions return to normal, the federal budget will remain on an unsustainable path with the budget gap becoming increasingly large over time, unless congress enacts a given changes in fiscal programs. for example, under plausible assumptions about how fiscal policies might evolve in the absence of major legislative changes, the cbo projects that

the budget deficit will fall from about 9% of gdp to roughly 5% by 2015. it will rise to about 6.5% of gdp by the end of the decade. after that, the cbo projects the budget outlook to deteriorate more rapidly, with federal debt held by the public reaching almost 90% of gdp by 2020 and almost 150% of gdp by 2030, up from about 60% at the end of the fiscal year 2010. the long term this will challenges confronting the nation are especially daunting because they are most of the product a powerful, underlying trends, not short-term, temporary factors. two most important driving force is to the federal budget are the aging of the u.s. population and rapidly rising health care costs. the cbo projects that federal spending for health care programs, including medicare, medicaid, and subsidies to purchase health insurance, will roughly double as a percentage

of gdp over the next 25 years. the ability to control health- care costs, while still providing high-quality care to those who need it, will be critical for bringing the federal budget on to a more sustainable path. the retirement of the baby boom generation will also strained social security, at the number of workers paying taxes into the system rise more slowly than the number of people currently receiving benefits. by 2030, when most of the baby boomers will have retired, the ratio will decline to about 3. overall, the projected fiscal crisis associated with social security is considerably smaller than the pressure -- crisis associate with the federal health-care program, but still it is notable. it does not account for the likely adverse economics of high debt and deficit. if government debt and deficits

were to grow up the pace envisioned, the economic and financial effects would be severe. sustained, high rates of government borrowing to bring funds -- could bring funds away from private investment and increasing our debt to foreigners, with adverse affects on u.s. income, output, and standards of living. moreover, it could diminished investor confidence. it could lead to sharply-rising interest rates on government debt and to larger financial turmoil. high interest rates would cause debt service payments to grow even faster, calling -- causing a further increases and making a just and more difficult. how much adjustment is needed to restore fiscal stability? to help into this question, it is useful to apply the concept of the primary budget deficit, which is the government's budget deficit, excluding interest payments on the national debt.

to stabilize the ratio of federal debt to gdp, a convenient benchmark for assessing the fiscal stability, the primary budget deficit must be reduced to about zero. under the cbo projection that i noted earlier, the primary budget deficit is set to be 2% of gdp in 2015, then to rise to almost 3% of gdp in 2020, and 6% of gdp in 2030. these projections provide a ga uge of the adjustments that will be necessary to achieve fiscal sustainability. but the budget on a sustainable trajectory, policy reductions on spending and increases in revenue must be made. by definition, the unsustainable trajectories of deficit and debt that the ceo outlines cannot actually happen. creditors would never be willing to lend to a government whose debt, relative to national income, is rising without limit.

economists -- one economist described this type of situation by saying to that if something cannot go on forever, it will stop -- saying, "if something cannot go on forever, it will stop." [laughter] the question is whether these adjustments will take place through a careful and collaborative process that raises priorities and its people adequate time to adjust, or whether the needed fiscal adjustments will be a rapid and painful response to a living or actual financial crisis. acting now to develop a credible program to reduce future deficits would not only enhance -- it would also yield substantial benefits in terms of increased consumer and business confidence. plans recently put forward by the president's national commission on fiscal responsibility and reform and other prominent groups provide a useful starting point for a

much-needed national conversation although these proposals differ on many details, demonstrate that realistic solutions for our fiscal problems are available. of course, economic growth is affected not only by the levels of taxes and spending, but also by their composition and structure. i hope that, in addressing our long-term fiscal challenges, the congress and administration will seek reforms to the government's tax policies and spending priorities, that will serve not only to reduce the deficit, but also to enhance the long-term growth potential of our economy. for example, by reducing dense -- disincentives to work. by promoting research and development and providing necessary public infrastructure. our nation cannot reasonably expect to grow its way out of our fiscal imbalances, but a more productive economy will ease the trade offs that we

face. thank you for your attention. i look forward to taking your questions. [applause] >> thank you, mr. chairman. first of all, we're extremely grateful for your decision to return to the national press club. we think it is very important, as a journalism organization, that we have transparency in government. it is important to give the american public the opportunity to hear your thinking. in that regard, these discussions also occur behind the scenes at the fed with your colleagues. there was a notation from a video conference of october 15 where it said -- and i love how some of the official language is displayed -- "participants discussed whether it might be useful for the chairman to hold occasional press briefings to provide more detailed information to the public regarding the committee's the

session -- assessment of the a look and decision making included in the committee's short post-meeting stickman's." it seems that that is an official way of saying, "should we be holding more press conferences? should we be going to places like the national press club?" your colleagues in europe hold regular post conference -- press coverage is. what is your approach to holding regular press conferences, as opposed to the piecemeal approach? >> let me say first that i think transparency is very important because we live in a democracy. the public's needs to know what we're doing and why we're doing it. our policies were better if markets anticipate and understand the actions we're taking and what is likely to cause changes. the federal reserve has come to

an enormous difference. you may not be aware that, in 1994, the fed did not even announce when it changed the federal funds rate target. now, we have an after-meeting state and with the votes. it is unlikely any central bank -- it is unlike any other central bank. we release full transcript with a five-year lag. we have extensive mechanism. we're at transparent central bank and we have made a lot of progress on that front. on press conferences -- it has been a difficult decision. on the one hand, real time transparency is very important and valuable. on the other, we did not want to create unnecessary uncertainty and unnecessary volatility in financial markets by saying things that may be misinterpreted if they are too ad hoc. that being said, i put a lot of value or transparency. we have moved substantially in that direction. we're looking -- we have a

committee, headed by richard janet yellen, which is looking at the whole range of communications -- and vice chair janet yellen, which is looking at the whole range of communications. >> can you update us on where that stands? how far off in the future a decision might come on that? >> not too far. [laughter] the committee is working on it. i think they will have some recommendations pretty soon. whatever comes out, there will certainly be additional steps to try to make is more transparent and more clear about what we're doing. >> they will share those with us? >> absolutely. >> the next question is the personal side, coming from the audience. what other three -- you do not have to do three -- what of the most frustrating things about being the chairman of the fed? is it that the world is hanging on every raised eyebrow and the possibility of an overreaction in the financial markets, i.e.,

"irrational exuberance" as your predecessor had to deal with way back when? >> i think i want to answer that question seriously. this is a very challenging job and we face a very challenging period. we have had enormous problems -- issues with the financial markets, with financial stability. we have had to address those. i believe we address them adequately in terms of stabilizing the system. now we have to implement a new set of laws and rules to ensure that come in the future, we do not have this kind of instability again -- that, in the future, we do not have this kind of instability again. the economy is growing more quickly, but still in a deep hole, still very far from where we would like to be. we need to manage policy, both monetary and fiscal, to try to bring this back to getting people back to work in the way that this incident was stability and low inflation -- that is

consistent with stability and low inflation. i have a great staff, great colleagues on the fomc. in that respect, it is tremendously challenging and interesting from my perspective. it is frustrating because it takes a long time. it takes awhile to make the kind of progress in the economy that we would like to make. >> from today's headlines -- a question from the audience -- do believe that the political unrest, especially in tunisia and egypt, is linked to higher food prices, which the questioner says, result from the fed's large-scale asset purchases? >> i will not address the first part of that. i do not have much insight into the sources of the unrest. i would guess it -- thinking about egypt, for example -- there is a lot going on there. issues about democracy representation, the broader economy. i am not sure i accept the premise of the first half of the question. i will talk about food prices in general in the fed policies.

when you talk about food prices or commodity prices, you talk about supply and demand. in some cases, in food, for civil, there are some constraints on supply. there have been -- for example, there are some constraints on supply. there have been -- we have a two-speed recovery or industrial economies are growing relatively slowly. industrial economies are just now coming back doubled output and demand that we were in before the crisis three years ago -- coming back to the level of output and demand that we were in before the crisis three years ago. the federal reserve's monetary policy is aimed at stabilizing the united states economy. in the united states, i do not think that anybody can argue that our economy is overheating or growing too quickly. we're using our policy to address stability in the united

states. the question is, where is that demand coming from? as i said, mostly from emerging markets, which are growing quickly for a couple of reasons. when this is the fact that there has been a long-term trend for emerging markets -- one is just the fact that there has been a long-term trend for emerging markets to develop very quickly. that has been positive because it means that millions of people who were living in pop " -- poverty are moving to a middle- class standard of living. as people's lives become more sophisticated, the demand for food, energy, and the like grows. that is the primary, long-term factor affecting the real price of commodities and food. in some cases, some of the emerging markets are facing inflationary pressures because their own economies are growing perhaps even faster than their capacity. that is, their policies have not

been such to keep growth and capacity balanced, which means that inflationary pressures are rising from those emerging markets. i'd think it is entirely unfair to attribute excess demand pressures in the emerging markets to u.s. monetary policy, because emerging markets have all of the food they need to address excess demand in those countries. for example, they can use monetary policy of the road. they can adjust paris -- there exchange rate, which is a big they have been reluctant to do in some cases -- they can adjust their exchange rate, which is something they have been reluctant to do in seeeee cases. the continued growth will put pressure on the prices of commodities, including food, around the world. one final comment on why federal reserve policy cannot be primarily responsible is just that -- you ask about the middle east. food in egypt is priced in the

egyptian pounds, not dollars. if the dollar is weaker, the egyptian pound is stronger. clearly, what is happening is not a dollar-effect. what is happening is a growth- defect, primarily in the emerging markets, greeting this tremendous demand for commodities -- creating this demand for commodities. >> to leave the causation question aside for the moment, as you look at events unfold christ -- across the world, you see the price of oil rising. how does that present arrested u.s. economy as you try to do your job -- a risk to the u.s. economy as you try to do your job? >> there are two kinds of risk. the higher oil prices are a kind of tax. we are trying to stimulate the economy. we are trying to get consumers to be more confident, be able to spend more, and to help put

people back to work. the extent that part of their income gains are drained away by higher gas prices, for some -- for example, that is going to be an negative. it is definitely a negative from the perspective of consumers and household budgets and economic growth. the other place where it is an issue, and we're watching it very carefully, not was then that prices are coming -- not withstanding that prices are increasing because of the global economy, we also have to watch inflation. right now, inflation overall, including food and energy prices, is quite low in the united states, lower than any of the other industrial countries, not to mention industrial -- emerging-market economies. higher energy prices add to inflation because they raise the price of oil and gasoline and

the like. if they begin to feed into their prices, -- other prices like wages, goods, services, then he might get a broader inflation problem. we're absolutely determined to do whatever necessary to keep inflation low and stable. in that respect, that is one challenge we have to address. >> in light -- in your speech, you talked about the bond-buying program. there was a time when "qe2" was thought to refer to an ocean liner. how do you see the process of helping the u.s. economy filtering through various sectors of the economy as you go about engaging in this process? >> first come to be very clear, the purpose of monetary policy -- first, to be very clear, the

purpose of monetary policy is not to increase stock prices, perce, but to put people back to work and create price stability. the way price stability works is the interest rates and asset prices. by changing those prices and the financial markets, that is how it works. i think are taking these securities of the market and pushing investors into alternative assets, we have led to higher stock prices and lower stock market volatility. by the way, the last time we did this come in march from a dozen 9, it was about a week before the absolute minimum -- the last time we did this was in march, 2009, about a week before the absolute minimum. the policy is affecting the stock market in two ways. one is by lowering, essentially, long-term yields and forcing

investors into alternative assets. but, also, because as this process has been working through -- as we have seen both in the earlier abbasid -- episode and this time, beginning the progress in august and now we are seeing a stronger economy a few months later -- this is incorporated into expectations about future economic activity and it causes markets to rise as well. it is a virtual circle in that respect. as i described in my remarks, the whole idea is to move interest rates -- asset prices in the direction that will stimulate more economic activity, but more people back to work, and get rid of the deflation, creating a more stable price environment. if you look at developments, i think things have moved distinctly in the right direction. >> and then, of course, the extension of that is that people want to know what you look at to

decide whether to extend the program. is there a qe3, qe4, etc.? what kind of things to you look at to decide where to go from here? >> well, first of all, as we have noted in our statements and commentary, we are reviewing the program on a regular basis. we want to make sure it is working as intended. we do not want it to have adverse side effects. to answer your question more generally, the approach is more or less the same we always use or monetary policy. how we make decisions about the fed funds rate? we do our best to create an outlook for the economy. where is employment, output, inflation going? given the level of monetary accommodation we have now, it is the economy on a trajectory that will give us the best possible outcome in the medium-term? if not a -- a condition looks to

be very low or deflation risk is there -- if inflation looks to be very low or deflationary risk is there, that may require additional stimulus. if the economy starts growing very quickly, that would be a reason for us to scale back. by looking at the a look and tried to gauge whether the economy is growing at -- outlook and trying to gauge whether the economy is growing, we look at the outlook and will either provide more stimulus as necessary or scale back or stay with what we have. it is really not a simple answer. we have to do the best we can in terms of our forecasting models to try to assess where the economy is headed. >> at the same time, perhaps the most politically-charged question, that of the unemployment situation, you have said you think it will be a matter of years before the

unemployment rate goes down to a level that is considered to be more normal. is that something you look at as you decide whether to extend or not? >> certainly. half of our mandate is maximum employment. we want to get labor markets working better if we can. it is very important. not only is 9.5% unemployment a very large waste of human resources in a very taxing burden on many families around the country, but about 45% of all of the unemployed have been employed for six months or more. if they do not find work in the next six months or year or two years, if they find work again in the future, it could well be at a reduced wage or part-time. people who are not employed for a long time lose their skills, connections, knowledge of their line of work. the consequences could last a very long time. it is very important to put

people back to work as quickly as it can. it is going to take a while. the very nature of this is that the economy has to grow about 2.5%, real terms, just to accommodate people coming into the labor force. in order to keep the unemployment rate constant, we need to 0.5% growth. in august, when we were thinking about this -- we need 2.5% growth. in august, when we were thinking about this, the rate was about 2%. we are looking forward into 2011 and thinking it will rise above 2.5%. therefore, we would expect to see unemployment declining over time. it is not going to be as fast as we would like, but there are a lot of indicators, including -- we have is once again. new claims for unemployment insurance, which is a pretty good number. looking at the whole range of statistics on the labor market, the sense is that employers are

becoming more willing to hire. we were stark -- will start seeing some lower unemployment rates pretty soon. >> another question from the audience, talking about the same program. it says, "he announced the purchase is before the congress passed the tax -- you announce the purchases before the congress passed that. have you any consideration of ending your latest purchase program early? -- early?" >> we tried to base our decision on where we should be and whether we should do more or less on the outlook. in this case, when we were making our projections, we had already taken into account most of what was in the package. we had anticipated that the bush tax cuts would most likely be extended, at least in large part. we anticipated that the

insurance would be extended, at least in large part. the part of the package that was surprising in creates additional stimulus is the payroll tax rebate. we factor that into our analysis. on the margin, we will respond to the way that affects the outlook. it was not that we were surprised by this package. we expected much of it to happen and it was built into our forecast when we made our policy positions. >> you referenced the jobless claims numbers. obviously, data flows on nearly a daily basis. what do you think is the single- biggest bank, if there is one, holding back companies from hiring or increasing their hiring right now? >> there are a lot of factors. it is not simple. certainly, one issue -- perhaps one very key issue -- is uncertainty about how much demand there is going to be.

remarkably, at the beginning of the downturn, firms laid off large numbers of workers and they were able, through very significant productivity gains, to meet existing demand with many fewer workers. only as demand has begun to grow beyond a level where it was when the recession began as their -- has there been any pressure on firms to add to their work force. we're now seeing an increase in sales. we have already exhausted the obvious productivity gains. it is time now to start bringing on new workers. uncertainty about the direction and sustainability of the recovery is a key factor. it explains why firms have been using temporary workers. they can bring them on. when the economy or if the economy weakens, they can let them go. it will be really good sign when we start seeing temporary jobs been converted into permanent

jobs. i am hopeful that is where we're heading and then next couple quarters. but you have been exhorting congress and the federal government to attack this fiscal -- >> you have been exhorting congress and the federal government to attack this fiscal situation sooner rather than later. what is the risk that the financial markets will force a solution before the lawmakers and administration do it themselves? them that it is really impossible to give any projection right now -- >> it is really impossible to give any protection right now. the market is behaving as though it thinks these problems will be addressed. the u.s. government can borrow for longer periods of time at reasonable interest rates. evidently, investors believe that the u.s. economy is strong enough and our political system able enough to deliver stability in our budget situation over the medium term. in one respect, they are

certainly right. this is a very wealthy, productive economy. there is no sense that we are economically unable to find solutions to these problems. we are which -- rich enough. we have enough resources to find solutions. some of the commissions have put out some plausible possibilities. i am not endorsing any particular one, but there are various ways to go about doing this without ripping apart our social safety net and without radically raising taxes, etc. it can be done. the question is, do we have the political capacity, the political will? i think that is what the markets will be following. in europe, it has been less a question of -- everyone believe that europe has the resources to meet the sovereign debt claims. it has been a question of, will the country's air -- countries

there demonstrate that they have the political will to solve these problems? i believe they do. it is the political uncertainty which is the key issue for the markets, not so much the economic capacity. >> have you seen any evidence in the recent past that there is political will of that magnitude, to attack the problem of this size? >> it is typical tuesday. i think there is a lot of interest. there have been a number -- it is difficult to say. members of the press have pressed for this to be addressed. there have been clearly -- has been considerable interest in the public in trying to address these questions. i am not a political prognosticator. i would not try to make an assessment. i know there is an increasing understanding among the residents of congress and the administration and the public that these are important issues

and that there is only so far we can kick the can down the road. we have to address this. the sooner we do it, the better for our economy. >> there are more near-term issues. one questioner says, "we know that you make monetary policy, not fiscal policy." who does the fed had enough options left to make a difference if a government shutdown cascaded -- does the fed had enough options left to make a difference if a government shutdown cascaded down to the public? >> what is being contemplated is not a shutdown of the government, but a refusal to ratify the debt limit extension. this is a very serious matter. under current law, if the debt limit is not extended for a time, -- for a time, the treasury has resources it can use to make payments on the

national debt. beyond a certain public, it would not have those resources. the united states could, conceivably, but remotely, be positioned to default on its debt. the implications of that for our financial systems, fiscal policy, economy would be catastrophic. so, i would very much urge congress not to focus on the debt limit as being the guardianship in this discussion, but rather to address directly the spending and tax issues that we all have to deal with if we're going to make problems on this -- progress on this fiscal situation. the debt limit itself is something where we need to be very careful in that we do not create any impression that the united states is not going to pay its bills -- creditors the interest on the national debt. again, that would be a very bad outcome. >> we talked earlier about some

of the legislation that is percolating on capitol hill. can you talk about where the policy stands now by virtue of the dodd-frank legislation and why you think some of the proposed legislation is not the right thing to do? >> the dodd-frank legislation, with the cooperation and a lot of other fed initiatives, has basically created a completely transparent fed, as far as the financials are concerned. when people say audit the fed, what they mean is open the fed's books. currently, every program that we initiated during the crisis has been completely open to the gao. all the information has been provided to the public. on december 1, we put out a complete record of all 21,000 loans that we made during the crisis. they were paid back with interest. we explain what the program was,

the criteria, who was the bar, what was the collateral, when was it repaid? the information was all provided. we provide we the statements of our balance sheet. we have an outside auditor who audits are books and publishes the information every year. every action in the fed's financial dealings is wide open. we have invited the gao to come in and look at all of our activities, both the extraordinary activities of the crisis and all of our ongoing financial activities. there is no sense in which the fed has secret financial dealings. every asset, every transaction is open to the public and will be open to the public. i have committed to that transparency. now, what "audit the fed" means in the language it has been used by some members of congress is not about the financials of the fed. rather it is about "auditing monetary policy," which means that the deal would be assigned

by the congress to look at monetary policy decisions and to take the materials prepared for the meetings, to depose members, to provide evaluation to the congress of a very short horizons of whether or not the fed is making the right policy decisions. this is very much different from what most people think about when they think about an audit. what this is a very significant challenge to the notion that, while the congress has every right to set the goals and objectives of the federal reserve, it should be up to the fed to make monetary policy decisions independently of short-term political influences and with an eye toward the long term objectives of the economy. what the kind of legislation would do has nothing to do with financials. it would be very much a significant step toward directing congressional

oversight of the decision process itself. personally, i think that would be very -- a very bad outcome. we can see a round the world that there is a great deal of evidence, -- around the world that there is a great deal of evidence, that central banks are independent in their decision making, and they have a clear mandate, providing a better outlook than a commercial -- a central bank that is dictated by short-term political considerations. that is an extremely porn -- important principle. >> is this helping to unite you with your colleagues on the federal reserve board at all? >> on this issue, every member of the federal reserve, both current and past, would be extremely united. this is a fundamental principle of our central banking. if the federal reserve becomes

an arm of congress in making monetary-policy decisions, i do think that would lead to much worse outcomes in terms of inflation and stability in the u.s. economy. >> here is a banking question. bankers say that, while leaders and regulators are telling them to lend more at the bank level, the examiners and regulators on the day today basis -- on a day- to-day basis are less concerned about lending and more concerned with the daily health of the bank. what are you doing about this? >> we have been focused on this issue for quite a long time. there is a problem here. we do not want banks to make bad loans. we did not want to make loans that are not going to get paid back. we want them to make sound loans. when you have a credit or the borrower asking for credit, it is in the interest of the bank, the borrower, and the whole economy for that loan to get made. we need to find the appropriate balance between loans that are appropriately prudent and save on one hand, but -- safe on one

hand, but can also allow those who are credit or the to get credit. we have been providing extensive -- were credit or the to get credit. we have and providing extensive guidance -- we have been providing extensive guidance. we have had training classes, phone-ins, meetings across the country with bankers and small businesses. we have put an enormous amount of institutional resources into trying to find that right balance. i think we have made significant progress. as we move into 2011 and beyond, i expect we will see increasing willingness of banks to lend. if there are good loans to be made, it is very clear that banks should be allowed to make them.

we will, in fact, encourage them to make them. >> just a couple housekeeping matters -- we're almost out of time. we have a couple of important matters to take care of. futures speakers -- harry shearer will discuss media myths on march 14. we might try to get him to do a few voices for us. the boys of taxation, does shulman -- the voice of taxation, doug shulman, will be here with us at the meeting after that. i want to present you with the npc mug. perhaps you will share that with a loved one. [laughter] we will be watching ebay inc. to make sure it does not show up there. you have been so kind to join us on multiple occasions. we want to present you with the highly-coveted national press club baseball cap.

[applause] our last question -- i have visited having you here today is a big deal for us, for me -- i have been covering business and economic news for many years. it is a little bit like the super bowl for business journalists. the super bowl is this weekend. do you watch football? do you have a favorite in the game between pittsburgh and green bay, which will be in dallas? [laughter] >> i definitely do watch football and baseball season is not around. i'm looking forward to the game. the redskins did not make it this year, once again, unfortunately, so i will be studiously objective. one of the teams has a quarterback named ben. [laughter] i am looking forward to the game. i think g.d.p. will drop to nothing during that three-hour span. [laughter]

>> thank you, mr. chairman. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> we're going to take you over to this department. p.j. crowley started his briefing with reporters. he will answer a lot of questions about egypt. live coverage here on c-span. >> mubarak is akin, -- a king, not elected. >> jordan is a significant partner in the region. king abdullah, just like his father and like president mubarak, have been strong supporters and participants in the efforts to pursue middle east peace. notwithstanding the ongoing change or transformation that may be occurring across the region, our interest remained the same. it is our interests a bad guide our relationship. we have very strong relationship

with king abdallah. we look forward to working with his new cabinet. we have a strong partnership because we have many shared interests. >> does that mean that monarchs are safe? in nepal, a popular uprising took down a monarchy. you have monarchs who enjoy u.s. support. from morocco to bahrain. i am wondering if it is different if they are attending -- >> our message to george route is our message to egypt is our message to -- jordan is our message to egypt is our message to yemen. we want to see political and economic reform. the form of government, the particular leaders -- kings have

some special qualifications. >> their genes? [laughter] >> these are, ultimately, matters to be determined in these countries. i do not think -- we want to see the kind of economic reform that the king has been advocating. as we have said many times, actions will be imperative. [cross-talk] >> the violence has escalated in the past 24 hours. can you tell us any reports about americans who have been killed or injured, and whether there have been any calls from the -- to the embassy to assist people who are trapped? >> we have obviously been focused on this over the last

few days. our decision to do it authorized departure -- ordered departure -- we give instructions to americans in egypt or might be contemplating travel to egypt that there was the potential for violence involving americans. .

in particular cases, you have informed us of television crews, drivers, reporters and others who have been taken and detained by authorities on the ground. the embassy has been in touch with the foreign ministry ambassador. we talked earlier today with the

foreign minister to register our grave concern and seek his assistance. we have talked to the egyptian ambassador with a similar message. we are monitoring this closely. >> do you have a message for journalists who are out there? >> we understand the journalists are there to do important work to help the egyptian people depending on who the data must work for. the american people understand what this point on on the ground. we support freedom of the press. that has been our message to the government of egypt.

>> do you think this is being orchestrated by anybody in the government? >> there are strong indications that this is part of a concerted effort. i cannot tell you who is directing it. with the increasing number of instances of people roughed up, the list -- journalists' is attacked and detained, these do not seem to be random. >> was there a brief with the -- a briefing with the secretary this morning? >> the ambassador returned from washington early this morning. he briefed the secretary here at the state department early this morning. >> how long? >> did the secretary asked king

of della to speak to hosni mubarak to explain -to explain-- -- king adbuddullah to speak to hosni mubarak to explain that it was time to go? >> i will leave the content of their compensation to them. >> there have been reports that a meeting was held by the ministry of the interior. >> we have been talking to all of you and we have been conveying the information you have to the embassy. we are tracking these. mark toner is monitoring. we have a spreadsheet and we are monitoring all of the reports that are coming in. the embassy has been terrific in having its security officers use their contacts within the

egyptian government and others to try to determine the status of all the journalists who have been detained. >> is there a pattern? do you have several cases where they are being held by the moi? >> i just said i do not think these are random events. there appears to be an effort to disrupt the ability of journalists to cover today's events. it could be in anticipation of events tomorrow, which we are bracing for a significant increase of demonstrators on the street. given yes today's ebay, there is the prospect of a -- yesterday 's events, there is a prospect of a confrontation. i saw that the king was quoted

today in a dispatch saying reform efforts were slow. >> thank you for clarifying that. is it like the election of the prime minister of jordan? >> i do not think the conversation got into that level of detail. these will be that jordan undertakes. i think became recognizes -- the king recognizes the importance across the region of political and economic reform. he is doing his best to respond to this growing aspiration. we appreciate the leadership he has shown. for all countries in the region, words have to be followed by a decisive actions. >> back to the roundup of the

dulles -- of the journalists, does the department have information that the ministry of the interior is involved in the crackdown of the journalists? but we have information from you all. --we have information from you all. we have raised that information with the egyptian government. we want them to investigate this bully. we want to have been a journalists release. we do not want to see this continue. [inaudible] >> i do not have a number. it is a master of those who have

been detained and those in a situation indoors. outside, there are angry mobs nearby. we want to make sure where average of analysts' -- journalists are, there is an active security presence. >> you seem to indicate this was a plot or a conspiracy and the protesters were being directed by foreign forces. there was also an indication that the president was upset by friendly countries try to give advice to egypt about what to do. he rejected that interference. >> we have no information to suggest that the protests on the streets are being managed or directed by foreign elements.

as we said and made clear yesterday, it is important for the government to reach out to representatives of egypt's opposition. we think that is a clear imperative and something that needs to be done now so that the egyptian people can see if there is a credible transition process underway. robert gibbs and i both stressed yesterday that this process needs to begin now. >> is there a message to the opposition that this dialogue needs to begin now? that they cannot wait until mubarak steps down? they are saying they will not negotiate until they -- until he steps down. what are you telling them about the imperative of negotiations? >> the ambassador continued

outreach. i believe he had another conversation with mr. elbaradei. our message is the same to both sides. they have to come together. they have to began a credible process. it has to be broad based. there have to be credible negotiations between the government and the opposition. >> a few different things. on the evacuations, you mentioned that a flight carried 50 americans today. where did that flight to go to? >> if i do not have this year, i do not know that i know the destination. we will get to that before the break is over. but it was suggested that there were -- >> it was suggested that there were two flights.

on the policy for handling this crisis, which you say that the internal divisions within the administration about how best to handle this crisis has been typical about the internal divisions you see on any big policy matter or have they been exceptional? >> you need to help me understand the internal divisions. i have been in several deputy committee meetings and i have not seen any divisions at all. >> so there is unanimity about how to handle this crisis? >> we have a vigorous interagency process. you are also dealing with something that is unprecedented. this is a transformational moment. someone in one of the meetings said we are moving into the unknown. this is a difficult and complex

process. there have been a wide range of views expressed through this process. we reached policy recommends -- recommendations to the present by consensus. there was no difficulty in reaching consensus. policy recommendations to the president have been cleared. >> we have heard from arab and muslim heads of state that tensions in the middle east would evade if the borders or reverted to that to -- to prior to the 1947 war. but peace in the middle east is important. it is important to achieve can

-- to achieve comprehensive peace. it is important for the israelis and the lebanese and the syrians. that is important for the region as a whole to be both peaceful and secure and prosper together. as an overlapping imperative, we have always said it is important for these countries to undergo political, social, and economic change. we have seen the demographic of an increasingly young population where they have not been able to produce the kind of opportunities the young people in the region want and deserve. these are twin imperatives. i do not think the issue of one taking before -- taking the fore

today discussed the other. there are clear ramifications of one or the other. if you have 1 million people on the street, there is probably a number of motivating factors. people see a need of change and they will interpret what that means. that is why we are encouraging the kind of orderly transformation or egypt that is in egypt's interest and in the region's interest to come together and address the questions people have and work together to answer the questions and moved away. i am not sure it is one of the agenda. there are probably a number of agendas. when you are seeing from tunisia to jordan to yemen to algeria

and there was a significant announcement today -- people are demanding change and demanding a more responsible and accountable government. you are seeing an emerging dynamic in the region in response to the people. >> did the ambassador meet with the muslim brotherhood yesterday? >> she reached out to multiple figures. the moslem brotherhood was not among them. >> anybody else? >> i happen to know that mr. elbaradei was one of them. >> how do you make an interpretation of what the army is doing? now they are taking some of

these sources. how do you see it? >> we are in daily contact with the defense and military leaders. i think the military has played an important and constructive role in been a stabilizing force on the ground, particularly relative to what the situation look like prior to the weekend. yesterday was a bad day for egypt. the military is adjusting its movements today in response to that. we are impressed with the posture and the professionalism displayed by the military. >> do you think the military is doing exactly what the government is telling them to do? >> a professional military follows the instructions of the duly constituted government. >> on your conversation with king abdullah, how concerned are

you hearing -- how concerned are you about hehearing what is about loyalty? how concerned are you that an ally like mubarak that they are next? how are you assuring other countries that america is still an ally? >> i will greater than 00 i will -- i willnot not cede that point. we enjoy a close working relationships with leaders. we enjoyed american presidents

going back to the '70s -- going back to the 1970's have enjoyed good relationships with president mubarak. who leads egypt and other countries in the region is a decision to be made by individual countries. we would like to see it be made by the people in those countries. we will continue to work closely with countries in the region because it has national, regional, and global significance. >> so these countries can count on america's loyalty as an ally, but not necessarily their leaders? >> the supposition behind your -- >> you talked about how important the king is as an ally. >> it is not for us to choose leaders of countries. we will work with leaders of

countries. our relationship is guided by a crucial interests we share with many countries in the region. >> can we go back to american citizens in egypt? is the embassy and the state department aware of any americans around cairo who cannot get help and need help and need someone to come to them to give them assistance? >> we are aware of one case that you have reported in the past 24 hours. that is one of the reasons why whenever people travel to a foreign country, we asked them to register with the embassy. if they have means to communicate with the embassy. in that particular case, we may or may not have had a contact. it is unclear to us whether the contact was with the embassy or back here at consular affairs.

we will stay in touch and closely monitor the welfare of any american citizen. where we can be helpful, we will dispatch directly assistance or try to work with the host government where we can to help them. >> are you able to reach out to this woman had held her? >> i believe we have been trying through the day. i do not believe we have been able to reach her. but given the pictures we have been seeing out of egypt and the deteriorating situation, many people are wondering what exactly is keeping the united states from asking or advising mubarak to step down immediately? >> it is not up to be united states to dictate who will govern egypt. these are decisions to be made by the egyptians in egypt. we are in touch with the government. we have had direct conversations with president mubarak and his

senior leadership team. we are sharing our best perspective and advice on what they should do in response to the movement that they are seeing on the street and the demands their people have for change. >> what are you advising mubarak to do? >> we will keep our advice at the present private. >> president mubarak is staying till the end of his term. departure means chaos. does this meet your call for transition now? >> we want to see a transition now. we want to see a credible process where the government, the opposition, other key elements of egyptian society come together as part of a broadbased effort to review what

needs to be done and take specific action and do so with urgency. that is what we have been encouraging since the president talked to president mubarak. president mubarak has made public commitments to undertake a process of reform and change. we are encouraging him and telling him, you have no time to waste. >> does mubarak face the end of his term? >> that is what president mubarak has announced. ultimately the decision on how long he remains in office will be an egyptian decision. bu>> the opposition is calling e american opposition interference. >> we are not interfering at all. we are calling for an orderly

transition that leads to free, fair, and credible elections. this has to be an egyptian process. if there is capital assistance we can provide, we are happy to do that. we have active programs which assistance to civil society and democracy programs. we are happy to continue those or expand those as needed. >> some in the opposition say they do not want to talk with mubarak or the government because they feel they cannot do that until mubarak is gone. it looks as if you are stymied. what is the u.s. ambassador say to those groups? >> what concerns us is that the longer this goes on without concrete action the people of egypt can see, the greater danger of ongoing confrontation and violence. this is why we continue to

encourage the government and the opposition to come together now and have a broadbased effort to move forward so that people can see that change is coming and that change is occurring. we continue to encourage that. there has to be serious negotiations undertaken now between the egyptian government and opposition leaders. >> with the u.s. ever consider backing the pro-democracy protesters? >> i have asked that question a number of times. >> the egyptian vice president has reportedly said the government is willing to open conversations with the muslim brotherhood. he also said mubarak's son would not run for the presidency. >> it is not for us to will

people in our people out in an egyptian-led process. >> are you seeing something for the future. you said change must come. what steps are you taking for the future? all of these demands may not take place? >> that is a broad based, sweeping indictment of our aid effort. we have programs and assistance that benefit all egyptians. we have programs that benefit egyptian society. i would challenge your assumption. >> is there a conflict of interest between the u.s. and the egyptian regime at this time? >> no. we want to see an orderly

transition to free, fair, and credible elections. our concern is that the government has to move farther and faster than it has to date. >> has the u.s. government come into possession of evidence as to who was behind the attacks on the protesters yesterday? you talked about attacks on journalists, but have we trace the attacks on others? >> we have --i do not know if we have a sense of how far up the chain it went. >> is the department is turning some difficulty on the part of the opposition to cohere so that it can be in a position to take part in meaningful negotiations? >> this process needs to take time to unfold to have a general

-- to have a genuine process that leads to real elections. knowing that that is going to take time, the sooner this process starts be better. it needs to start now so that you can have a broadbased effort and you can bring in a wide range of opposition figures. through the normal politics of this process, they will work through their various coalitions. it is fair to say that the opposition -- because of history in egypt -- is struggling to sort through how to do this. that is why we need to have a process that is open and broadbased. it needs to start right away. >> do you identify any figure or group has been vangarde of the opposition? >> this is an e diction process. whatever results from this will

be made by -- this is and the egyptian process. whatever results from this will be made by the egyptian people. >> do you mean mubarak should not finish his term? >> i have addressed that question. those are decisions to be made within egypt. >> do you know about the mass text messages that the government forced mobile networks to send out? >> know when that those messages were sent out yesterday gives us some strong indication that this was an orchestrated effort by elements close to the government. >> what was wrong with people texting messages of support for anyone person or group? >> by itself, there is nothing wrong with that. clearly, the violence we saw yesterday, which we condemn,

gave us great concern. we have strong indications that that was an organized effort. >> i just want to make sure you are not supporting freedom of speech for the protesters and not for the government. >> that is one of the reasons we want to have open communications. it is important to know what they are organizing groups for. part of the effort yesterday was an organized effort of intimidation. if that is true, that is something we condemn. >> can you clarify who has reached out to the egyptian embassy? who did the reaching out? >> it was the deputy assistant secretary. >> you mentioned the fact they reached out that they talked about what happened. have you expressed your displeasure? >> there will be a statement by

the secretary. we have made our views clear. we have condemned in the strongest terms of attacks on reporters covering the upper in egypt. -- the effort in egypt. we have asked the egyptian government to look into it. they have said that they would. we are looking at the news that the reporters have released. we want the government of egypt to do everything they can to make sure there is freedom to report on the ongoing needs in egypt. >> you call the ambassador express displeasure? >> our first effort today was to do everything we could to get beat reporters the least, to try to speed up the process. -- our first effort today was to

do everything we could to get the report tears released, to try to speed up the process -- to gert thget the reporters rel. >> what kind of measures will the u.s. use if the fighting starts again? >> in our accommodations with egyptian leaders today, we expressed our concerns about tomorrow and the possibility of a confrontation and the rising risk of violence. what we are expressing our our concerns and offering our -- are our concerns and offering our advice. >> if you bought stays in power

until august or september, what should -- if mubarak stays in power until august or september, the think egypt will remain isolated? do you think leaders will rally around the mubarak? >> i think you are focused on the wrong thing. what we want to see is for the region in a country that is at the heart of the middle east to see real change taking place, dramatic change that opens up new possibilities for the egyptian people and serves as a model for other countries that are watching events in egypt closely and watching the events in the tunisian closely. everyone is trying to understand what is happening. everyone is trying to understand what needs to be done. we would hope that country by country, they will respond to the call of these people and to

respond to the policy that the secretary outlined in doha and undertake a broad efforts toward social, economic, and political reform. >> is there a plan to review? >> we are prepared to review. there is no review ongoing at this time. >> you said mubarak is in total control of his government and the apparatus. >> we have no reason to think he is not. is president the leader of the egyptian government? he is. that does not mean he is issuing every instruction for every action. as to some of the things we have seen, i cannot say where in the apparatus these instructions to

interfere with journalists were issued. is president mubarak still be president of egypt, he is. >> following up on your answer to kim, said you would like to see change starting in the area. why is it that important for this administration to see change? >> it is something we have advocated for many years. it is important for the people of these countries. it is important for the people of tunisia when the government has begun to and needs to continue to respond to the frustration that drove a street vendor to set himself on fire and set off a dynamic that we are still seeing unfold in tunisia. that has and impact on other countries as well. it is important for these countries and fundamental to the

united states that we have a government that response to the will of the people. >> the egyptian vice president said he started a dialogue with the opposition. he is scheduling further talks with others soon. he is talking about a timeframe that goes from now to the early summer when candidates from the presidency can do so. are you happy with this timeframe? >> we are aware that the vice president has had some meetings. they are not brought or credible enough to me to be clear aspirations of the egyptian people. he is fulfilling what president mubarak has charged him to do. it needs to go farther and go faster and needs to be broader. we encourage the egyptian government to redouble its efforts and we encourage the

opposition to engage constructively and see this process take off because that is what the egyptian people want to see. >> you said we want to see dramatic things. time is of the essence. >> i agree. >> if they do not respond, are you prepared to take dramatic steps on this side to make it happen? >> it is not for us to make this happen. this is not a process that will be dictated by the united states. we are giving the government of egypt encouragement. we are giving leaders our best advice on what to do. it is their decision. it is their country. they need to respond to the aspirations of the egyptian people. this is not about us. it is about the aspirations of the egyptian people and the egyptian government. >> you save the military has

adjusted to things on the ground. can you clarify? >> i will be far too -- >> it is clear to us that they are taking different actions. >> there is a fear that the history might break down. >> i do not think we will see that. >> it is still the administration also the view that the sooner the elections are held, the better. >> i have not changed today what i said yesterday. this is an egyptian process. within the boundaries of being able to put forward a credible election process -- one of the challenges for egypt will be

what will they do about parliament? there are lots of decisions to be made. and the sooner they demonstrate progress to the egyptian people, the budget. >> you had a brief and zero bleak reference to a neighboring country. -- a brief and oblique reference to a neighboring country. you did not express how you felt about it. >> we think actions are followed by words. >> what actions are you giving to the president and the vice president? >> i will not get into it. we continue to encourage the government of pakistan to release our diplomats. he has diplomatic immunity and

pakistanis to meet its international obligations. >> would you call it a difficult time? showing support to jordan in this difficult time? >> it is a complex and difficult time for many countries in the region. jordan is facing economic challenges. i do not think that is an inappropriate term. [inaudible] >> is there any kind of engagement with the palestinians or the israelis? >> i cannot say that there has been a particular engagement in the last few days. we will have an important meeting coming up in germany this weekend where we will have a chance to have a broad based discussion on where we are. i am not aware of any particular actions in the last

few days. >> do you expect any israelis or palestinians to be there? >> i have look at the schedule and i am not seeing any meetings like that. but regardless of whether the secretary has a double -- >> regardless of whether the secretary has a meeting -- >> if the nepal government asked for u.s. help to fight the enemy -- >> has there been any determination on the fate -- >> i think the investigation is still ongoing.

[no audio] >> the senate intelligence committee has just gaveled in on the president's nominee of domestic intelligence to support national security. journalists will be discussing the protests in egypt. we will hear from the chief pentagon correspondent. it is hosted by the center for strategic and international studies. we will have it like for you here on c-span at 5:30 p.m. eastern. the senate has been discussing the 100th birthday of president

reagan. you can follow senate coverage on c-span 2. the house is out of session this week. >> this weekend greater than "book tv," ron reagan and emily lambert. all the complete schedule act c- span.org -- at c-span.org. to get our schedules e-mail to you, sign up for our book tv alleged. >> saturday, the supreme court considers the fair housing act and racial discrimination. >> the complaint said he should be liable as an individual

because he owned the corporation. the complaint also said he should be liable because he was the officer/broker. listen to c-span radio91 fm and -- c-span radio at 91 fm. >> president obama offered prayers for the nation and the people of egypt today. the prayer breakfast was organized by a nonpartisan christian group known as the of a ship foundation. the opening remarks are from congressman jeff miller of florida.

>> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and mrs. michelle obama. [applause]

>> we want to begin the program. it is really a joyful noise to hear 1000 conversations taking place across this road. we hate to interrupt, but we are ready to begin. >> you know the drill. you have probably been asked this question already. how many of you are here at the

national prayer breakfast for the first time? raise your hand. thank you for all of the new members and returning guessgues. >> the vision of this breakfast was first passed by president eisenhower and the members of a small weekly breakfast group that met in the senate and the house. as they experience the warmth of pray together, they decided to share the experience with the country and the world. >> everybody, please take your seats. that small group in the senate and its counterpart in the house continues to meet over five decades later. what we are doing this morning is just a big public version of what we do in private as members of congress every single week that congress is in session.

>> we are happy to report that small groups like this have sprung up in parliament in almost 200 countries. many countries and regions of the world hold annual prayer breakfasts like this one. isn't it encouraging that people all over the world with different languages and cultures and ideas can be united in prayer? [applause] >> coming from the deep south, i get the honor of introducing the heads of state that are here with us. i apologize if i do not get it quite right. with us this morning, the president of editorial 0-- equatorial guinea.

[applause] the president of macedonia. [applause] we have also received a letter that i would like to read a couple of exurbs from -- excer pts from. in the name of the compassionate and be merciful, the national prayer breakfast brings together people each year not only in that the ship, but in earnest prayer -- fellowship that our generation will do god's will on earth. we are also linked not only by

believe, but also by our common humanity. however, it is only by truly understanding the best in our faith and our common humanity that we can serve god and protect our children's future. jordan has a long and proud heritage of current and moderation. jordanians are working systematically and boldly to expand the zone of understanding and dialogue around the world. [applause] as you might imagine, in our house prayer breakfast, we do not all agree on everything. in fact, we disagree strongly on many of the issues of today's times. the beauty of our prayer

breakfast group is that we can pray together in spite of all our differences. prayer is a powerful reconciling course. just because we cannot resolve every issue does not mean we cannot have strong relationships together. >> jesus said, blessed are the peacemakers. he did not say peace lovers because we all love peace. he said peacemakers. it is the obligation of all of us to be peacemakers. the events like the tragedy in tucson in my home state of arizona and the turmoil in the middle east today make it clear that we have a lot of work to do and prayer is the best place to start. >> we have worked all of your long to provide you with an uplifting and discouraging experience this morning. we hope you receive it in faith

and think about how a small prayer breakfast group or a big event like this one might change your life, your leadership, and the place you call home. >> music has an amazing power to touch our emotions and lift our spirits. we are pleased to have with us a supremely talented woman who will give us a worshipful sense of why we are all here. with her by land and her voice, she has one bank more grammy -- won more grammy awards than any other artists.

alison krauss. [applause] ♪ ♪

♪

[applause] >> thank you. part of what makes service in the house fascinating is all the different backgrounds of people elected to serve here in washington. most of you can remember a civics, government, or social studies teacher who first taught how nations and people come together to make decisions. >> the people of north carolina sent a social studies teacher to represent them here.

for our first reading from the holy scripture, our friend and brother, rep larry kissel. [applause] >> mr. president, good morning special guests. i will be reading to you from the new testament. i was asked to talk about our best hour of the week in the house. this national prayer breakfast came from members of congress meeting with president eisenhower. mr. president, we want to thank you for continuing this tradition. it is the best hour of the week when members of the house can come together and leave their burdens and cares at the door and laugh, talk, a share. it is the best hour of the week. i will be reading to you from

luke, chapter 24. you may recognize them -- recognize this as the time right after the crucifixion of jesus. behold, two of them went to a village. they talked together about all of these things that had happened. it came to pass that while they continued to gather and reasoned, jesus himself drew near and went with them. their eyes were that they should not know him. he made it as if he would have gone further. the constrained him saying, abide with us. the day is far spent .

he took bread and blast it and gave it to them. their eyes were open. they knew him and he vanished out of their sight. i chose this scripture because as we go through our walks of life, we have a way of coming together. we should always walked as if we are going to meet a stranger who is jesus. thank you and god bless the scripture. [applause] >> we will now hear from our friends in the senate prayer breakfast group. >> good morning. i am jeff sessions from alabama

, a republican. i am mark prior, a democrat. welcome and thank you for being here this morning. every wednesday that united -- that the united states senate is in session, we meet for fellowships. but this has gone uninterrupted since the 1940's.

>> you can tell your friends back home that you even saw one do it here. members of congress do pray. [laughter] you may have also read about the many caucuses that we have in the house, the congressional black caucus, the pro-trade caucus, the renewable energy

caucus, for example. >> what you may not know is that we have what we call the prayer caucus. we have asked its leader, ready for the virginia, to lead us and our prayer for national leaders. randy? >> can you join me as we pray for the leaders of our country, please? lord, today, we thank you, that even in the darkest times of our lives, your light will guide our way. we thank you that, no matter how many times we ignore you, no matter how often we rejected, and no matter how fervently we tried to deny your very existence, you never stop speaking to us. this morning, we thank you for country and for the leaders of our country. we pray that you will give them hope, strength, and wisdom and

measure enough to sustain those who they lead. we pray that you will not allow them to falter, even when the earth seems to shake around them. we pray that, through the noise of the world, they will discern your words. we pray that will give them a heart to defend our nation to trusting you. lord, we do not ask more of them than they can do. that is why we turn to you and ask you, lord, to heal our land. we ask you to bless our leaders and we ask you to continue to bless the united states of america. a maamen. [applause] >> since much of what our government does is raise and spend money, it is good to have some people around who know how to do wise decisions with money. >> it is good that the people of north carolina, again, sent us a banker to provide us a reading

from the holy scriptures, senator kay hagan. >> thank you and good morning. it was not here and i was in my home state of carolina on wednesday morning, i attended prayer breakfast with a small group of women at my church. i asked them today to pray for you and to lift all of you up in prayer and to pray for peace and i also have a special guest today from north carolina who has been a minister at his church, providence baptist church, for over 50 years, reverend chubs. we are so delighted that so many of you are here. i want to read from the old custom, isiah chapter 40, versus 28 through 41. "have you not known? have you not heard? the lord is the everlasting god.

the creator of the ends of the earth. he does not faint or grow weary. his understanding is unsearchable. he gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless. even youth will fade and be wary and the young will fall exhausted. but those who wait for the lord will renew their strength. they shall mount up with wings like eagles. they shall run and not be wary. and they shall walk and not faint. this is the word of the lord. thank you. [applause] >> sometimes, as busy people, we say that we are buried in our work. our next presenter knows the literal meaning of the term.

along with 32 other miners, he endured 69 days half a mile underground in a chilean mine. the world marveled at the technological achievement of their rescue. >> our guest today brings us the story of how god protected and encouraged them until their rescue. please welcome the man who led those miners in worship and prayer to route those dark and fearful days, jose and because -- jose enriquez. transfer it -- translated for him will be the rev. albert cooper. [applause] >> first call, greetings to the

president and all present and church authorities. my name is jose enriquez. >> i thank god for being here. i have come to give it testimony of what god did in that mind of san jose on the fifth of august. we were surprised by a rock fall and an explosion. we had to organize ourselves down there to face this crisis. we had many difficulties. but we were able to overcome,

organizing ourselves into a democratic community. we've voted 50 + one for every major decision. and we went along with it. [laughter] we realized, however, that we have one alternative and that was god himself. we were different creeds and different churches. so i got them all in a circle and we began to teach the minors how to pray -- the miners have to pray. we made sure that each one, in his own way, could participate. as we prayed, we began to note the presence and blessing of god among us in the mine. we were strengthened.

our spirits were revived. one of -- we had serious problems. we had very little food, for three days only, no water. and we have to sort out the jobs, like repairing the electors and the piping. so we decided that, unless we prayed and god did a miracle, there would be no way out. and that became our daily hope and confidence. we began to pray that he would do miracles and solve our problems. but first -- the first 17 days were the worst. there was no communication with the outside world. but we kept preaching the word of god. and god was with us, among us, and he began to deal with and

teach and speak to us. he began to reconcile the inevitable tensions that occurred in such situations. in this democratic, not secular democratic, but praying democratic community, god began to reconcile this together. and so we would get them one with the other and forced them to check their hand and become reconciled. -- to shake their hands and become reconciled. and then we had the great merkel where the second drill -- the first one had passed us by. the second drill had glanced off a rock and roggin at exactly the right level at exactly the right -- off a rock and entered at

exactly the right level at exactly the right angle. at last, we were able to eat. we got our beefsteak and our medication. and this was the greatest blessing of all. small bottles came down and then i had a bible to speak from. -- small bibles came down and then i had a bible to speak from because that is what would fit. and there is so much to tell you, dear folk. finally, that day came when we were rescued. and even before we went up, i forced them to get on their knees and pray one final time. some wanted to dive into the capsule and get out immediately. i said, no, one moment.

we are going to pre first. [laughter] [applause] so we have that final time of prayer together. i said to them, brethren, we prayed unto our god in a desperate situation and he answered torpors. -- answered our prayers. so now we need to pray and thank god. we bless to the capsule and thanked god for the work that so many had put into it. the many authorities, politicians, othe

president who committed himself, sparing no expense or effort to make sure that we were found. and came that great day when we began to come up one by one, which seems all of you saw and all the world is watching. we felt the best way to express what we were feeling was to wear the t-shirt that we sent to be made that says, "thank you, god, thank you, lord jesus, thank you for having saved as." th we came out to hug our wives and love poems. glory to god. [applause]

>> we know that the president does not run the government alone, but draws the greatest challenge from the 50 states to serve the people. pomaville sec previously served as the governor of the state of iowa and serves our nation as our secretary of agriculture. >> to pray for the leaders of the world, secretary tom bill

vilsac. [applause] >> let us our heads and prayed to the god who comforts us and watches over this period for our world leaders, our prayer is to remember and live the beatitudes. blessed are the leaders who are poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. blessed are the leaders who are meek for they and their people shall possess the earth. blessed are the leaders who mourn for they and their people shall be comforted. blessed are the leaders who hunger and thirst for justice for they and their people shall be satisfied. blessed are the leaders who are merciful for they and their people shall obtain mercy. blessed are the leaders who are clean of heart for they and their people shall see god. and blessed are the leaders or peacemakers for they and their

people shall be called children of god appeared to settle the leaders who suffer persecution for justice's sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. let us pray that our world leaders to justice, love, as, and walk the path according to god's plan. amen. [applause] >> there may be no potent or effective force on good earth than the power story. there are those precious few gifted artists who can shake the ideas and histories of the human struggle into a form that touches and transforms us all. we have one such artist among us this morning, randall wallace. he has touched audiences around the world with his cinematic masterful pieces, such as "we

were soldiers, 0" "secretariat," "brave heart." we look forward to hearing the power of the words that he has chosen to speak to us this morning. please welcome randall wallace. [applause] >> i think there is a clip that will be played. can we start that? > he ticketi am william wall.

and i see a whole army of my countrymen here to fight. you have come to fight as free men and free men you are. what will you do without freedom? will you fight? >> get back now. we will run and we will live. fight and you may die.

run and you will live, at least a while. lying in their beds, many years from now, would you want to trade all of this, from this day to that, for just one chance to come back here and tell them that they may take our lives, but they will never take our freedom? [applause] >> mr. president, mrs. obama, mr. vice president, members of congress, international guests,

all of you here today, it is a great honor for me to be with you. an introduction like this sort of in fuses me with hollywood glamour. whenever that happens, i felt compelled to tell a story that relates exactly how cool. [laughter] -- how cool i am. [laughter] my big break was being made producer of a television show that was in trouble. the ratings were low and the actors were unhappy. i have is the ball was an actress that was miss universe. -- unhappiest of all was an actress and that was miss universe. i had brought by some losses to show you. my plan was to walk out to be actors with my sunglasses on and say, "hi, i am randall wallace."

then i would snap my sunglasses off and make my point. and with a dramatic flourish, i would put my sunglasses back on. i knew the actresses would love it. afterwards, i went to miss universe and said, "hi, i am randall wallace. i know you are not happy. you have not been given enough to do. but i am in charge of this show now, the right thing, the directing, everything. so if you have a problem, you just come to me." and i snapped my sunglasses on. but i had been visiting my tie. and when i put my sunglasses on, i did this. [laughter] [applause] and i assure you there are no fallback decisions from there. [laughter]

one of my friends said it was probably the first time in hollywood history when an actor's wondered who she had to seduce to get out of a job. [laughter] movies are arguably america's most influential export. guys like me are not the natural choice to speak at a prayer breakfast. when i was directing "we were soldiers," i found them wanting to drive over to visit former president carter's sunday school class at his church. apparently, mrs. carter, the gracious southern lady that she is, wanted to make sure i felt at home. i sat down next to mrs. carter

and mr. carter, from the pulpit, asked the conservation to open their pupils to the passage that would be his subject for the day. i grew up in baptist churches. i was really familiar with that passage. i decided to take advantage of that time to look at the him look for the words of the emi was thinking of -- at the jye hm book. mrs. carter handed me her bible and opened it to the proper passage. [laughter] i realize at that moment that mrs. carter had decided that, since i was a hollywood filmmaker, i did not know the difference between a prayer book and a bible. [laughter] it also occurred to me that i had the perfect chance to steal

mrs. carter's bible. [laughter] i mean, if i walked out with it and someone stopped me, i would say, "she gave it to me." and she would say -- she would have to sit, "i guess i did." it was -- and she would have to say, "well, i guess i did." and it was a beautiful bible. it had the tears of the former first lady. imagine what it would get on ebay. [laughter] to prepare this morning, i looked at the speeches of those who went before me at this podium. they advocated causes that are vital. i cannot compete with their accomplishments or their eloquence. so this morning, i thought that we would do something that, as nearly as i can tell, is unprecedented for a keynote

address at the national prayer breakfast. i thought we would talk about prayer. [laughter] now, i am no philosopher. i am not a preacher. i am a storyteller, like jesus. as nearly as i can tell, that is my only similarity to him. [laughter] except for one other thing, i, too, have cried out "my god, why have you forsaken me?" i have lived a life of tremendous privilege. i grew up down the road from here. virginians are righteous and sober people, too proud to tell a lie. but i was born in tennessee. [laughter] my father was born in lizard lick, tennessee.

the men in my father's family are alton, elton, olton, glea mon, and clyde. [laughter] they called clyde pete and no one knew why. [laughter] windows a child, i severed from asthma. i felt -- when i was a child, i suffered from asthma. i felt that i would die. my grandmother would hold me up in her arms all night long and she would sing to me. she would tell me stories from the bible or from her childhood. to me, they seemed one and the same. she looked into my eyes and she would smile. i do not see blue eyes to this day without seeing hers.

as i grew older, i found her looking at me in a different way. i said, "grandmother, why are you looking at me like that?" she said, "well, you remind me of roof." roof was my grandfather. he died before i was born. i ask my father what he was like. and my father told me this story. during the great depression, my grandfather, who was a farmer, decided to build a country store to help feed his family. and there was nobody and there was no wood, no wood to be had anywhere. but he found the wreck of a river boat on the tennessee river and he used that would to build a store. but then he needed stock to still in the store. the one place that paid cash for

labor was the plant where they froze huge blocks of ice. with tongs, they would grab these blocks of ice and sell them to farmers. my grandfather was the only white man who took that job. all the rest was what they then called colored man. his first day on the job, his supervisor, who was also white, can get to my grandfather and said, "listen, i just want you to know that you and i are the only white men here. all the rest are colored men. so i cuss at them. so if i forget myself and i call you as sobe, i mean nothing by it. it is just hope -- call you wob, i mean nothing by it. it is just the way i am."

i father looked at him and said come "i understand completely. i just wanted to know that, if you forget yourself and you call me an sob and i hit you in the face with a claw hammer, i mean nothing by it. it is just the way i am." in that story, i understood everything of who my grandfather was and who i wanted to be. [laughter] i understood the power of a story. and my mother and father worked hard so that my sister and i could go to college. it was something my parents never had a chance to do. it was impossible for them after world war ii. my father was a salesman who loved his customers. and he won promotion after promotion until, one day, the company he had worked for for 20

years, a family-owned business, was sold to a group of investors who knew nothing about the business. but they believed the way to increase profits was to fire all the old guys and hire younger guys who were cheaper. and my father was one of the old ones. he was 38 years old. i always believed that my father had lived his life wanting to please the father he never had. his father had died before he was born. the grandfather of he had told me about was my mother'grandmo's father, not his. he was the greatest man i ever knew and he came apart. while he was in the hospital, my sister and i were formed out to relatives. at one point, we live in a house that had no indoor plumbing.

i told my father about that and he said, "well, rich people have a canopy over their beds. but as we have a can of pee under hours." [laughter] -- but i guess we have a can of pee under our." [laughter] the last sale my father did for that company was for $90,000. the first sale he made when he came out of the hospital was for 90 cents. he worked 100 hours per week. he worked his way back to tremendous success. god bless america. [applause]

god bless my daddy. he sent me to school where robb wanted and i chose the most expensive place possible. -- where ever i wanted and i chose the most expensive place possible. i did not want to be a lawyer. i wanted to be a writer. i wanted to be the kind of men who told who his ancestors were and who we might be. my first job was in nashville, working at a theme park, managing a show that featured live animals who played musical

instruments. [laughter] i am not making this up. [laughter] i had a piano-playing pig. his name was pigarachi. [laughter] i had a drum-playing duck whose name was bert backquack. [laughter] you can imagine how proud my parents were. [laughter] but i kept riding. i moved to los angeles. i found an opportunity in television. i married. i had two beautiful sons. i had a purpose in my life and i've worked the way i had seen my father worked, with pride and with passion.

i won a multi-year contract for employment. we bought an old house and remodeled it to be the family home. i was promoted to producer. except for an occasional mishap with my tie, life was sweet. and then the writers guild went out on strike. and that caused the thriving company that i was working for to avoid my contract. and the strike went on forever. and when it was over, i had no savings and a new job and nobody would return my phone calls. i am sure that has never happened where you work. i kept trying. i was always good at trying. i was sitting at my desk and i was staring at nothing and i had a knot in my stomach and i looked down at my hands and they were trembling. i realize i was breaking down the way my father had.

and i was afraid that i was betraying my father and my mother and my grandmother and my grandfather. and my greatest fear of all was that i was going to let down my sons. so i got down on my knees. i had nowhere else to go. i prayed a simple prayer. i said, "lord, what i really care about right now, what really matters to me are those boys. and maybe they do not need to grow up in a great state house with a swimming pool and a lot of bathrooms. maybe they need to grow up in a little house with one bathroom or no bathrooms at all. maybe they need to see what a man does when he gets knocked down the way my father showed me. and if that is what is best for

them, then i pray you let me take it. but i pray, if i go down in this fight, that i not do it on my knees to someone else, but standing up with my flag flying ." i got up and i wrote the words that led to "report." -- that led to "brave heart." great writers like robert frost and jane austen say that an ending that does not surprise the writer will not surprise the reader. when i wrote about william

wallace standing on a battlefield, were ready to die for what he believed, i felt it. and when it came to the end, i wept. now, was that moment of prayer the single pivotal moment in the dark of my life? of course not. but prof. and mentor in college once told our class, "there is no great decision in our lives that stands alone. the trajectory of every other decision we have ever made points our way to the future. our lives are unfolding stories. they are moving pictures. if you took a freeze frame from the day that jesus was crucified and asked someone unfamiliar with the story to guess who was the victor in that

scene, they would be unlikely to say the one hanging on the cross." it is from the that cross that jesus cried, "my god, why have you forsaken me?" what amazes me is that, one of the thieves crucified next to jesus mocked him. in the agonies of the crucifixion, jesus was able to say, "today, you will be with me in paradise." it seems to me that jesus' response to that thief was not just not the answer to that thieves prayer at that moment,

but the answer to every prayer that thief never prayed. if god is god at all, god hears their purse whether we pray them or not. so why pray at all? for me, it is not because god needs to know my purse. it is because -- needs to know my prayers. it is because i do. take any moment in life, take this one, hear it in a year room resident with power. do we go before god because what we want to do is use the power, the ultimate power that we imagine god has or do we get down on our knees to a acknowledge the truth of our

weakness to rise again in the strength of that truth? jesus said the truth will make us free. he also said the truth is god is love and is the prayer that comes with love that goes to god. my father once told me the story of a man who was drowning in the ocean. he cried out, "ogata, to save me, i will spend the rest of my life in your service." then he was dragged from the waves. on the way to the shore, the man lifted his eyes and said, "of course, you know that i mean in an advisory capacity." [laughter] life does not give us the option of advisory capacity.

tolstoy wrote in "war and peace" that in a battle, one man throwing down his weapon and running away can panic a whole army. and in a panic, one man standing up the battle flag and running back toward the enemy can rally the whole army and no one but got knows what will happen and when. what if prayer is a way to glimpse god's true intentions. the divine purpose for each of us. i am not a theologian. i'm not looking for logic. i am only trying to understand my experience that prayer matters. does it change the mind of god? i do not know. all i can tell you is that it changes me. when i was a boy, we sang a hymn, "the firsfootsteps of jes"

i thought it was a rarity in hollywood, a filmmaker that would speak openly about faith, about prayer. but, in reality, i am not so rare. those who are dreamers note to will the fleeting nature of beauty, the falseness of fame, the pettiness of power. and when i pray with or for my friends, my first concern is not whether they are the followers in the footsteps of jesus, but whether i am. and if i have led you to believe that i am any example of righteousness, then maybe you are just not familiar for our tennessee talent for stretching the truth. [laughter] because even if i could have stolen mrs. carter's bible, i

could not have kept it. you can on the pages, but you cannot on the bible until you have lived it. some of you here lead nations. some of you here lead the world. all of us here have one heart inside of us and it is within that one heart or the whole battle is fought. there are many ways to do with the ultimate questions of god as there are people on the planet earth. but everyone of us must stand alone before all that made us and all that we have been and all that we might be and, dying in your bed, many years from now, would you not trade all the days from that day to this for one chance, just one chance

to come back here and open your heart before god almighty and say, "i will lose my life and i will win it in loving and all the ways you leave my heart to love?" you have a prayer. pray it. amen.

>> thank you, randall. thank you for inspiring us. all of us. now it is my honor to introduce my president, our president, the president of the united states of america. we have an expression in florida that you can walk shoulder-to- shoulder with someone even if you do not see eye-to-eye. that is the prayerful spirit in which we gather today, the genius of our founders that we have one president at a time. and it is the higher genius of the scriptures that we are to pray for our leaders, that we may all be quiet and peaceful

lives. mr. president, first, we thank you for your attendance and the strong support you had given this event and all the activities that surround it. i speak for all members of congress here and for millions across our country and around the world. we pray for you each day as you leave our country. ladies, an and a gentleman, the president of the united states, barack obama. [applause]

>> thank you. thank you very much. [laughter] [applause] thank you so much to the cochairs, to jeff, and to all members of congress who are here. the distinguished guests who have traveled so far, to randall and you're wonderful stories and the power a prayer and to all who are here providing testimony. thank you so much for having me and michele year. i will begin by having a word -- saying a word to mark kelly who is here. we have been praying for

more ex-wife, get the difference, for many days now. -- for mark's wife, gabby giffords, for many days now. we are here for you for the long haul. [applause] even as we pray for gabby in the aftermath of a tragedy here at home, we are also mindful of the violence that we are now seeing in the middle east and we pray that the violence in egypt will anend and the rights and aspirations of the egyptian people will be realized. that a new day will dawn over egypt and throughout the world. for almost 60 years, going back to president eisenhower, this gathering has been attended by

our present. it is a tradition that i am proud to uphold, not only as a fellow believer, but as an elected leader whose entry into public service was actually through the church. this may come as a surprise. as some of you know, i did not come from a particularly religious family. my father, who i barely knew, i only met once for a month in my entire life, was said to be a nonbeliever throughout his life. my mother, whose parents were baptist and methodist, grew up with a certain skepticism about organized religion. and she usually only took me to church on easter and christmas. sometimes.

yet, my mother was also one of the most spiritual people that i ever knew. she was somebody who was instinctively guided by the golden rule. she nagged me constantly about the homespun values of for kansas upbringing, values like honesty and hard work and kindness and fair play. it is because of her that i came to understand equal worth of all men and women and the imperatives of and in -- of an ethical life and the necessity to act on your beliefs. it is because of her example and guidance, that despite the absence of a formal religious upbringing my earliest

inspiration's for public service ended up being the fifth leaders of the civil rights movement. there was, of course, martin luther king and the baptist leaders, the ways in which they helped those who had been subjugated to make a way out of no way, to transform a nation through the fourthforce of love. there were also catholic leaders like father theater just bird and jewish leaders like rabbi abraham joshua, muslim leaders and hindu leaders. they were called to fix what is broken in our world, a call routed in faith. it is what led me, just a few years out of college, to sign up as a community organizer for a

group of churches on the south side of chicago. it was through that experience, working with pastors and lay people, trying to heal the wounds of hurting neighborhoods, that i came to know jesus christ myself. and embraced him as my lord and savior. [applause] that was over 20 years ago. like all of us, my faith journey has its twists and turns and has not always been a straight line. i have thanked god for the joys of parenthood and michele's willingness to put up with me. in the wake of failures and a disappointment, i have questioned what god had in store for me and i have been reminded that god's plans for us may not always match our own

shortsighted desires. let me tell you. these past two years have deepened my faith. [laughter] [applause] the presidency has a funny way of making a person feel the need to pray. [laughter] a blink in said, as many of you know, "i have been driven to my knees many times by the overwhelming conviction that i had no place else to go." [laughter] fortunately, i am not alone in my prayers. pastor friends like jill hunter and tjx come over to the oval office every once in awhile to pray with me and for the nation.

the chapel at camp david has provided consistent despite and fellowship -- consistent respite and fellowship. joshua blodubois begins my morns with scripture. most of all, i have friends across the country, friends i know and friends that i do not know, but i know their friends and they are praying for me. one is an old friend named k. wilson. in my fate -- in my family, we call her mamma kate. she happens to be by children's godmother. she has organized prayer circles for me all around the country. she started small with her own bible study group. but once i started running for president and she heard what they were saying about me on cable --

[laughter] she felt the need to pray harder. [laughter] by the time i was elected president, she said, "i could not keep up on my own. i was having to pray eight times to nine times a day just for you." so she listed help from around the country. it is also comforting to know that people are praying for you who do not always agree with you. tom coburn, for example, is here. he is not only a deer friend, but also a brother in christ. we came into the senate at the same time. even though we are on opposite sides of a whole bunch of issues, part of what has bound together is a shared faith, our recognition that we pray to and serve the same god. and i keep praying that god will show him the light and he will

vote with me every once in awhile. it will happen some. [laughter] a ray of light will be down -- [laughter] my christian faith, then, has been a sustaining force for me over these past few years. all the more so when michele and i hear our fifth question from time to time, we are reminded that, ultimately, what matters is not what other people say about us but whether we are being true to our conscience and true to our god. six first his kingdom and his righteousness and -- seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all of these things will be given to you as well. as i travel across the country, folks often ask me what it is that i pray for.

like most of you, my purse sometimes our general. lord, give me the strength to meet the challenges of my office. sometimes, their specific. lord, give me patience as i watch malia go to her first dance where there will be boys. [laughter] lord, have that skirt get along as she travels to that dance. [laughter] but i petition god for a whole range of things and there are a few common themes that occur. the first category of prayer comes out of the urgency of the old testament prophets and the gospel itself. i pray for my ability to help those who are struggling.

christian tradition teaches that, one day, the world will be turned right side up and everything will return as it should be. but until that day, we are called to work on behalf of a god that shows justice and mercy and compassion to the most vulnerable. we have seen a lot of hardship these past two years. not a day passes when i do not get a letter from somebody or meet someone who was out of work or has lost their home or is without healthcare. the story that randall told about his father, that is a story that a whole lot of americans have gone through over these past couple of years. sometimes, i cannot help right away. but sometimes, when i can do -- what i can do to improve the

economy or curb foreclosures or help to deal with the health care system, sometimes it seems so distant and so remote, so profoundly inadequate to the enormity of the need. it is my faith then, that biblical injunction to serve the least of these, that keeps me going and that keeps me from being overwhelmed. it is faith that reminds me that, despite being just one very private man, i can still help wherever i can, however i can, wherever -- whenever i can, for as long as i can. and somehow, god will buttress these efforts. it also helps to know that none of us are alone in answering this call. it is being taken up each and every day by so many of you.

back home, your churches, your temples, or synagogues, your fellow congregants, so many faith groups across this great country of ours -- i came across a group recently called charity water, a group that supports clean water projects overseas. this is a project that was started by a former nightclub promoter named scott harrison who grew weary of living only for himself and feeling like he was not following christ as well as you should. and because of his good work, it charity water has helped 1.7 million people get access to clean water. and in the next 10 years, he plans to meet clean water accessible to 100 million more. that is the kind promoting we need more of.

that is the kind of faith that moves mountains. and there are stories like that scattered across this room, people who have taken it upon themselves to make a difference. sometimes faith groups can take the work on their own. sometimes they need a partner, whether it is in business or government. that is why my administration has taken a fresh look at how we organize with faith groups, the way we work with faith groups, across our faith-based partnerships. we look at how faith groups can partner with our government. we help them feed more kids who otherwise would go hungry.

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>> that is why i believe that in a caring and just society, government must have both for values, love, charitys. on this we find expression not just in our families or places as work or places worships saw some of also is our government as in our politics. over the past two years, it's the nature some of these obligations, the proper role of government, has obviously been the subject of enormous controversy is. as his aides have been fierce. one side's version of compassions and communities sunni sect might be interpreted as an aggressive and irresponsible expansion of the state or an unacceptable restriction on individual freedom. that is why an second recurring

theme is a prayer for humility god answered this prayer for me early on by having me mary mr -- marry michelle. whether it is watching my football game, it keeps me humble. in this life of politics, when it debates have become so bitterly polarized and changes in the media force us to listen to the worst biases. we must object to the scripture to learn that none of us has all of the answers. none of us, no matter what our political party or station in life. the full breadth of human

knowledge is like a grain of sand in god's hands. there are some mysteries in this world we cannot fully comprehend. this is written in a joke. god's voice thunders in marvelous ways. -- this is written in job. \ the challenge i find it is to balance this uncertainty, this humility for the need to fight for deeply-held convictions. i pray for this every day. i pray that god will show us the limit of our understanding and open our ears and parts for our brothers and sisters with different points of view. such reminders of our shared dreams and our share of limitations, the children of god will build a way forward that we

can travel together. the last recurring theme that my prayers have is that i might walk closer with god. i make that my first and most important task. in our own lives, it is easy to be consumed by daily worries and daily concerns and it is a time when everyone is busy and under stress and our culture is obsessed with power and celebrity. othe sometimes it takes hard shp to remind us of what matters most. whether it is watching an aging parent dealing with a long

illness or we lose a family member in the war in afghanistan, or a gun and opening fire in a supermarket. we ask ourselves how we treated others. have we told our family and friends how much we love them? it is in these moments when we feel most intensely our mortality, our own faults, and a sense of the world that we most desperately seeking to touch the face of god. -- desperately seek to touch the face of god. we should seek his face not only in those moments but each and every day. every day as we go through our lives, whether it is in washington or hollywood or anywhere in between, we might every so often rise above the

here and now and to kneel before the eternal. that we might remember the fact that those who wait on the lord will soar like eagles and they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not fail. when i wake in the morning, i asked the lord to give me the strength to do right by our country and its people. when i go to bed at night, i asked the lord to forgive mcnaught of my sense -- i asked him to forgive me of my sins. i asked him to make me an instrument of his will. i say these prayers hoping that they will be answered. i say these knowing that i must work and sacrifice and service even if they are not answered.

i also say these prayers' knowing that the active crater itself is a source of strength. to remind us that our time on earth is not just about us, that when we open ourselves to the possibility that god might have a larger purpose for our lives and in ways that me might never fully understand. god will use us well. the lord bless you and keep you and may he blessed this country that we love. -- may he blesse this country that we love. [applause] [applause]

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have sent powerful. -- if we are grateful to all of our guests and our distinguished visitors. o>> we are all brought to this place and moment for a reason and it is our responsibility to figure out what we can do to spread the message of hope and faith we received today. one of the things that we have all noticed is that the world that god has made almost always swear there's tragedy, there is also a release of great love. people across the country and around the world have been focused on the terrible senseless shooting 26 days ago in tucson. this has made us all ask why. why?

and examine what we can do to make the world where such things don't happen. >> most of us have said our prayers for the life and recovery of all of the victims and especially our colleague, gabbie giffords. this morning, we got to pray with her husband. capt., we thank you for our service to -- for your service to our country as a member of the navy and as an astronaut. thank you for being here to lead us in our closing prayer. please stand in prayer as we are led by captain mark kelly.

>> congresswoman kirkpatrick, congressman miller, thank you for inviting me here today. i'm not sure i appreciate following the president of united states. [laughter] >my wife's condition continues to improve every day. the neurosurgeons and urologists have told me that that is a great sign. that is the slope of the curve which is very important. it is good to be here at an event which is such a good part of -- important part of our national dialogue. the last month has been the hardest time of my life. it was on january 8th, four weeks ago on saturday that my

life and that of my wife has forever changed. it has cost other families dearly. my community in tucson, the people of tucson are suffering. suffering deeply and suffering together. when something like this has happened, it is natural to think, why did this happen. why were six people killed? why was an innocent child killed who just want to meet her congresswoman. why was gabby shot through her head and left clean for her life. we cannot know the answer these questions but thankfully and miraculously, gabby survives.

i was telling her just the other night that maybe this terrible event, maybe it was fate. i had not been a big believer in fate until recently. i thought the world just spins and the clock just ticks. president lincoln was a big believer in faith. he said "the almighty has his own purposes." i can only hope, and i told my wife the other night, that may be it is possible that this is just one small part of that same plan. that this ascent, horrible and tragic, was not nearly random. maybe something good can come from all of this.

maybe if our responsibility, maybe it is your responsibility to see that something does. as many of you know, i am an astronaut and i have been fortunate on three separate occasions to look down at this planet from space. we orbit the earth with about the same distance that washington is from my home town of west orange, new jersey. from space, far above the new jersey turnpike, you have an entirely different perspective of life on our planet. it is humbling to see the earth as god created it and the context of the vast universe. many of you might also know that my twin brother scott, also an astronaut, and through this very

difficult time, has been aborted the international space station. this is a very difficult place to be when your twin brother and family and the nation is going to something so difficult. he was asked by several journalists what it is like to be so far away and unable to return to his family during this time. i think what he said bears repeating. he said "what we do here in space is challenging. our country faces a lot of challenges. the way we address those challenges is through team work . i would like to see more teamwork from everyone in facing the challenges. hopefully, if anything good can come from this, it is that we learn how to work together together. we are better than this, we must

do better." my brother is right, i know that we will do better. one morning when gabby was still in tucson, i was outside visiting the moral that sprung up on the grass outside of the hospital. there was a lot of angels that people left there. a lot of religious material on the lawn -- bibles, angels, prayers. the people of arizona have turned that plays into a place of prayer. on that particular morning, there was candles glowing on the lawn. it was like stepping into a church, a place with heaven itself as a ceiling.

that reminded me that you don't need a church, a temple, or a mosque to pray. you don't even need building, walls, or even an altar. you pray where you are, when god is in your heart. prayer is not just asking, it is listening for answers and expressing gratitude, which i've done a lot lately. with that, i would like to conclude with a prayer that my wife's rabbi, what believe is in the audience, who sat over my wife's hospital bed on the first night when this happened. "in the name of god, our god of israel, may michael, the

messenger of compassion, watch over your right side. may gabriel and before you, guiding your past, the angel of light and behind you, stands the angel of healing. over your head surrounding you is the presence of the divine." thank you, god bless you, and please, please continue to keep your thoughts and prayers for my wife in your heart. thank you. [applause]

on >> i would ask that you all remain in your place is to allow the president and the first lady to depart. thank you so much for coming, mr. president. thank you for bringing mrs. obama with you today. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

[applause] >> it has been quite a morning. thank you for being co-chair with me on this. thank you, and god bless you. now going to make peace.

>> in about an hour, journalists discuss the protests in egypt. we will have the chief pentagon correspondent for mcclatchy newspapers. this is tested by the center for strategic and international studies. for strategic and international studies. >> this weekend, we will visit the old naval observatory. but we will also discuss the fugitive slave law of and how it resulted in the expansion of the underground railroad. also a political war --

political cartoons from the civil war. for a complete schedule online, go to c-span.org/history. >> sunday, on "in depth," the founder of the american spectator. his latest book is "after the hang over," of the conservatives road to recovery. >> because of the extraordinary use of the filibuster, the ability of our government to legislate and a trusty critical problems the severely jeopardized. >> isn't true that this is a forceful confrontation to the threat of a filibuster is an antidote to the melody and he

did not want as tampering. >> the filibuster remains intact but there are some new rules in the senate. find out what they are and watched the debate. you can watch transcripts from every house and senate session. >> as the conflict in egypt grew more violent today, foreign- policy and national-security experts discussed the conflict and the deal, administration's response. -- and deal obama administration's response.

>> welcome, everyone. -- is with us this morning on the panel. he is an expert on u.s. national security and military and ferris-military affairs. -- he is an expert on u.s. national security and military affairs. we are very glad to welcome jennifer windsor who is the associate dean of -- at the school of foreign service at georgetown university. for a decade, she was the executive director of freedom

house. -- is the president the political signs and international studies at mcdaniel college. he is an expert on the politics of north africa and has just completed a policy analysis paper and for us which you can find on our website. but we are also joined by the director of research at our center in qatar. the focuses on is on the political partisan and an expert on the muslim brotherhood. you can read his pieces on the brookings website as well. sitting next to him is the

deputy director of the center in qatar. revolution is in the air. i never thought and 35 years that i would in my lifetime see what is unfolding right before our eyes. the time of great incineration and also a very scary time. we are in uncharted waters. we are very grateful to david gregory for hosting this panel discussion today. hopefully we will come out of it was some kind of way ahead for the region and for the united

states. >> thank you to everyone watching. this has to be the most exciting conversation because we are in a breaking news situation. it is exciting to be surrounded by such expertise when there's a lot of confusion about what is happening on the ground. the question of what is happening and what it means is important not given the uncertainty. what is happening? what do we make of this state of confusion? >> we are not exactly sure what is happening. the liberation square is now kind of recovering from the battle of the past 24 hours. this seems to have moved into

position between the different camps. if the prime minister has just apologized for earthy incident that happened yesterday. the big question is what will the army to and what will it do tomorrow? everyone will be coming out to the mosques to pray and to the streets to demonstrate. now, the big question is does mubarak have a strategy to stay in power and overseeing a transition to his people? >> the end came here for mubarak, how do you read it?

is he buying more time? >> well, he does not want to leave power so he is planning on staying until september. this is where the big gap between the protesters and the regime is. and the overarching demand is for mubarak to step down. what we saw was the spark of the counterrevolution. i think that people with -- have caught up and and with the euphoria at the this is an effective and strong regime. what we have seen was a concerted effort on the part of the regime to regain momentum. we saw a shift in mood compared to previous games the -- days where we saw over a million protesters.

>> us talk about other opposition groups that have been somewhat silent. no one is sitting down for conversations. where the protesters stand at this moment, they will lose a lot of momentum. >> the advantage they have is the international media spot point. mubarak does not want to leave power. they are being constrained by the attention and is critical that the protests are able to keep the media focus. that is why you have seen the government forces try to shut down coverage because once the

spotlight is gone, the freedom of action will be great list and -- greatly enhanced. on >> this has been a broader movement but until this point, what is happening beyond what we are seeing and kyra -- in cairo? >> this is the scenario, this is what we expect to unfold in tunisia. the surprise for people is how quickly the regime crumbles. the call of his counterparts in algeria, he was stunned that he

did not -- as he had thought. he said, an ounce. , and they would never do that. remember in 1990, this is a regime that was ready to fight and take the country into a catastrophic civil war that cost 200,000 people. that is what we are looking at. and there is a situation where they're looking at how this thing will move. that is where we are. everyone is watching the reaction of the u.s. >> talk about a freedom movement that is around the region.

the king of jordan this of his cabinet. the leader of yemen says he will walk out of power later on in the year. mubarak says he will be out by september. this is quite an event. >> this certainly is unprecedented. egypt is in a region which is considered to be one of the most oppressive in the world. there has been some signs of a small movement forward, especially on independent satellite and loggers -- bloggers. i am reading for them. i think that everyone who has said that the middle east is not capable, does not really want freedom, there is obviously a

constituency it out there and tell are many steps to git a democratic system in place but it will have massive implications. >> i would like to go back because i think one piece, and we are talking about a lot, is the muslim brotherhood. where are they? are they caught flatfooted? >> i think it is that they have played a very limited role. they know that if they have a role, they would stoke the fears of the international community. they will become more active.

but they aren't lending their support behind -- as a potential leader. it is interesting to note that they have tried to move some statements to allay some fears. they have gone out of their way to make that point. >> this will be one of the great

questions. resolution -- revolutions are inherently unstable. he might be the leader that he jitneys to transition to democracy but there are historical examples that should make us cautious. there have been lots of good moderate levels who were swept away in a revolutionary situation. the bolsheviks are sitting in caves in pakistan. islamic jihad is a critical element of al qaeda. they are probably thinking that this is their moment. they have been trying to create this for 30 years.

they are trying as hard as they can to get people back to egypt to stir up the situation and to seize this resolution. >> is of a hearing -- is a founding member of al qaeda. >> the extremists will beef flooding back. >> and they are acting on the borders. they are controlling the airports. they have sent more forces to make sure that nothing comes out of gaza or goes into gaza. the that there is a silent hand of the military that is still there and functioning. >> the military is important.

it is a potential for becoming part of a caretaker government. >> this is similar to what happened in tunisia. and they are making sure that an orderly transition can take place. will they back mubarak and try to maintain the regime? this is a stretch to think that they would turn into democrats overnight. they need to get out of this crisis in a way that provides for an orderly transition. >> what is a mean that they are on the sidelines at this point as the protests on fold? >> it is critical. any past successful demonstration has ultimately

about splitting the security forces from the regime. the security forces needed to feel that cannot be punished in a post transition. in the case of egypt, very important to look at the situation. what i thought about this was that this was the intelligence services, which are the cutting edge part of the security services. there could be a struggle between the army and intelligence services. there could be a struggle right now internally. the ability of the citic movement to be able to continue to keep the army on its side will be very critical. that means that they need to be as disciplined as they can be

given their size. given what happened yesterday, the funds actually wanted to turn this into a chaotic and violent scene that would then have to be restored -- order would have to be restored. >> what about the reaction of the obama administration? interpret what they have done. >> they have been playing catch- up. this is a very difficult situation. last tuesday, this whole thing started. they have moved from talking about that mubarak is not a dictator to say that he has to go and go now. this is a dramatic shift in policy. we're watching it in real time. now, having succeeded on two fronts which is to use the

leverage of our military assistance and the context and and the other hand getting mubarak said that he wants -- to say that he will give this up. what they need him to do is to say that but he is going. mubarak himself has no credibility with the opposition. the time lapse for avoiding bloodshed so far, there is a b minus for getting mubarak to go. >> to you think that when they spoke to him, that he would get the message and leave? >> know we know about mubarak, that should not have been the expectation. he is a survivor, if nothing

else. it is hard to envision him stepping down voluntarily. when we look at the statements, they are hedging their bets and if we look over the course of the past week, they have been behind the curve. their town has got more tough. -- their tone has gotten more tough. a lot of people had misinterpreted the transition. the statement that there should be an orderly transition. that does not mean that mubarak has to step down immediately. the transition could mean a variety of things including laying down a procedure over the next 67 months leading up to the presidential election. to emphasize what the protesters wanted was for mubarak to leave immediately.

there is widespread disappointment now about the obama administration's response. we are hearing a lot of criticism. they are asking, where is the u.s.? where is the international community? >> as the u.s. have a responsibility to look at a fence and think about how that information occurred? -- does the u.s. have a responsibility to look at events. >> there was a terrific book written about this situation 8 years ago. we have entered into a pre revolutionary mode this is only a matter of time. all we need is a galvanizing event for this to explode. the civil society, the public, from what i hear, they are

waiting for the u.s. to rethink its strategy. they are waiting for the west to show some leadership. obviously, the obama administration must be congratulated for this revolution -- evolution we have seen. we want a transition now. i think from an american standpoint, the nightmare scenario is where the standoff persists. we all now that our -- that there are forces that are in the shadows waking to take advantage of the situation. the opposition might radicalized. that is why i think the united states, from what i hear, it is that they should be more firm for the simple reason that they have huge leverage over the military and nonmilitary is

ultimately the decider. >> i will pick up on this point. you have been in the room in these kinds of situations. what is the calculation? >> this situation is very problematic. it could cause the disintegration of the military which would be disastrous for egypt. that will have the situation dissolve into chaos. >> what would cause the military to disintegrate? >> demoralization. the sense that the egyptian people moving in one direction and there officer corps is moving in a different direction. this is a draftee army, they come from the people. for the u.s., there is the issue

of that on the one hand it is clear that -- the protesters want mubarak to leave. these kinds of transitions are make and turn out well. most revolutions don't turn out well. one of the most important things here is that you cannot have everything all at once which is exactly what the people want which is completely understandable. if the administration calls for elections now, if there are elections now, it would be the absolute worst thing for egyptian democracy in the long term. this is a lesson that hopefully this will -- this is a ministration will learn. but what happened in 2006 in gaza and in iraq in 2005. premature elections before you have political parties that are true the represented -- that are truly representative, before you have proper parties.

>> elections will happen whether we like them or not. in fact, it could be a galvanizing force if they are moved out. i think that you should calling them and maybe three months yes, there will be a scramble among political parties to figure out how to compete and there has to be tremendous pressure to make sure that these elections are as free and fair as possible, which they have not been in many years. i think the obama administration, you need to turn back the clock to look at the performance. there was a very stupid decision that obama

administration made it right off the bat to cut off assistance to civil society groups. this is basically said they could get the relationship back on track. that alienated a lot of groups on the ground. they felt that the obama administration, even though they were brought in as democratic processes, is turning their back on civil society. this is a lot to make up for with. >> mubarak has so effectively suppressed the political parties of the center and allowed the moslem brotherhood to organize, they have the structure.

the second parties and do not. you bring up the elections, in your basically hand in the elections to the muslim brotherhood. >> i think that the role of civic and youth movements and forcing political parties to get their acts together should not be underestimated. that was certainly the case in serbia and the ukraine. i think that -- is not a charismatic figure but people might be willing to unify the around him. he is not particularly frightening to the outside world and the muslim brotherhood is not dumb. i think that they would prefer a coalition government. >> some administration figures say that some of this fear of

the muslim brotherhood would not necessarily take root in each of the way it might in other countries. some of the concerns will be discussed on sunday. this is 30 years from the iranian revolution. what is your perspective? >> you cannot compare iran to egypt today. there are things that we would not be comfortable with today but we have to recognize the extremists in iran and elsewhere are different. they would not try to win an election.

they never run more than 50% of the districts and. they are aware that this would provoke the regime and the international community. they do remember what happened in algeria. there is a degree pragmatism's about what they're willing to do. the focus will be rebuilding their organization. they have been depressed over the past several years. they would like to engage in social and educational activities. they are not interested in power just yet. they have a more specific focus in the short run. >> israel.

describe what is happening there, the level of anxiety. we have heard very little from them. >> they are totally preoccupied with a fight between the defense minister and the chief of staff. they are deeply concerned about what this means for their peace treaty, for the, strategic alliance that has built up for 30 years between egypt and israel. the common enemies whether it is al qaeda or extremist groups such as hamas, and of course, iran. if mubarak is leaving, they are

entering into a whole new world which would be highly problematic. they are concerned that this will be the unravelling of the whole peace process. they feel they cannot influence events. the obama administration is kind of give enough on mubarak. -- given up on mubarak. will the u.s. be with israel? >> i want to ask a question as we think about our program on sunday,